Trent has now pulled out of Nikolai at 8:10 MST / 6:10 Alaska timewith 15 of 16 dogs still on the team. That puts his rest time at about 8 hours in Nikolai. Run to McGrath is about 64 miles. His GPS tracker says it is a balmy 4 deg F, sure it will cool down as he moves into night fall. Remember the dogs and trail conditions like colder weather. Will post pictures of McGrath and updated information iwhen Trent arrives there. My guess is that he will camp some on trip to McGrath, go through McGrath, and take his 24 hour rest in Takotna 20 miles further down the trail, but we'll see. Glad to have your attention on Trent's progress.

If you're really in to it, go to www.iditarod.com and sign up for the GPS tracker and Iditarod Insider to track Trent and all the mushers continuously!

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As a preface, I'd like to say, I'm a cyclist. I ride my bike everywhere, whether it be to Tablerock, in the Ridge to Rivers trail system, or just down to the state capitol to work on Unda' the Rotunda. I'm a big fan of people-powered transit.

In case you haven't heard, the Idaho Legislature is looking to update the state's laws in regards to cyclists, with a package of bills by Sen. Elliot Werk. Unda' the Rotunda wrote about the package this week.

The status on the bills thus far is as follows:

The bill requiring all bicycles—that includes those fixed gear rides so popular around town—to have a working brake, has passed the full Sentate and awaits assignment to committee in the House. If it makes it through that, it'll be voted on by the House at large. The law would make brakeless bikes unlawful, and a penalty would be associated with not having a brake.

That being said, when the House sets a hearing for the brake bill, the public can testify. If you're unwilling to part with your fixie, Idaho hipsters, visit the...

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Your car and your meat-eating: the biggest causes of climate change

Most homeowners in the U.S. would come out ahead if they invested in energy efficiency improvements—new insulation, sealed windows, more efficient boilers, and the like. So why don’t they do it? Simple: the upfront costs are steep and the paybacks can take a long time. Many homeowners don’t have access to the capital to cover the costs, or they worry that they will move before the the costs are repaid, thus leaving subsequent owners to reap gains they didn’t pay for.

Given the substantial public good served by having these retrofits done—they save consumers money, create jobs, and reduce carbon pollution—how can public policy encourage them?

If you can come up with half the upfront cost, you can use the “Cash for Caulkers” (i.e., Home Star) program that’s going to be passed into law soon. Or if you live in a town or city that can afford one, you can take advantage of a PACE program, which offers loans that cover the initial costs and are paid back over time from energy savings.

Who does that...

The Winter X Games usually takes place in Aspen in January. This year, for the first time, a European Winter X is also taking place in Tignes, France. And the action started today, with the men's ski superpipe finals held Wednesday under the lights.

The home team clearly had the advantage: Kevin Rolland, from La Plagne, France, took gold and Tignes local Xavier Bertoni took silver. For the win Rolland threw two double flips and a double cork 1260. He earned gold at Winter X in Aspen this winter by being the first skier to ever land this trick in competition. “I couldn’t have dreamt of a better situation,” Rolland said. “We (Bertoni) were one and three in Aspen and now for the first edition at home we are one and two.”

Canada’s Justin Dorey rounded out the top three with back-to-back doubles. “Because I am from North America, the X Games in Aspen means more to me, but for Kevin and Xavier to win here in their own country of France, it must mean the same,” Dorey said.

Full results from men’s ski superpipe. Check back...

Gents, if the thought of pesticides on your privates bums you out, then start thinking outside the boxer. AussieBum has gone down under to pioneer briefs that put a banana in your pants.

That’s right, these skivvies are a smoothie mix of banana tree-bark fibers, organic cotton, Lycra (cough), and an “eco friendly flavor that will keep you coming back for seconds.” Mmm ... yeah.

Hat tip to our friends at HuffPost Green. We just couldn’t pass up the op-pun-tunity.

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If you want to build a sustainable street, neighborhood, city, or world, I have one word for you: plastics.

The facts about plastic have become part of the green

liturgy. More than 30 million tons of the stuff is dumped into the municipal

waste stream each year in the United States. Disposable water bottles have

become the Hummer of plastics—a petroleum-fueled symbol of extravagant waste,

a F-You to the planet with some 13 billion of them ending up in landfills,

littering landscapes and befouling oceans.

But the reality is that even if you pried every Evian and

Dasani bottle from every clammy sweaty hand, we’d still live in a plastic

world. It’s a component in just about every product we use, hence the

ever-expanding East Pacific Garbage Patch of non-biodegradable, indestructible

plastic that will surely move up the food chain and return to us in one form or

another.

There’s been no shortage of innovation directed at the

dilemma, from the development of biodegradable plant-based plastics to new

approaches...

Cross-posted from the Wonk Room.

Big Oil is using fake “Americans” to defend billions in tax subsidies. The American Petroleum Institute is running full-page ads in Politico and Roll Call that attack Congress for “new energy taxes”:

Congress will likely consider new taxes on America’s oil and natural gas industry. These new energy taxes will produce wide-reaching effects, and ripple through our economy when America — and Americans — can least afford it.

These unprecedented taxes will serve to reduce investment in new energy supplies at a time when most Americans support developing our domestic oil and natural gas resources. That means less energy, thousands of American jobs being lost and further erosion of our energy security.

Our economy is in crisis, and we need to get the nation on the road to economic recovery. This is no time to burden Americans with new energy costs.

The target of this ad is the Obama administration’s effort to remove $36 billion in loopholes and subsidies for the oil industry<...

apocalypsecakes.wordpress.com

Just because the planet is turning up the heat, doesn’t mean we should get out of the kitchen.

If we’re going to be globally baking anyway, we might as well take a slice out of the life of pi pie of life while we’re at it. So go eat up this delectable recipe for Global Warming Hot Apple Pie from Apocalypse Cakes before the Senate tries something crazy ... like addressing climate change.

“Good news: it’s easy to keep your pie warm when it’s 140 degrees outside. Bad news: you’re decomposing from heat-rot.”

And while that pie’s in the oven, the recipe recommends you start searching for those sea-level-rise pool floaties. Wheee!

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These are on the website at http://www.trentherbst.com/the-team.php , but here are most of the 2010 Iditarod squad/stars!

In order from #1, it is Bonfire, Buckwheat, Crazy, Fiddle Megan, Flynt, Hoover, Jekyll, Krister, Megan, Sheep, Tuli, Uke, and Wallace.

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Cross-posted from the Wonk Room.

The mounds of snow blackened by auto exhaust have barely melted in Washington, D.C, yet the Energy Information Administration’s Short Term Energy Outlook already predicts that average gas prices “will exceed $3 per gallon” in coming months:

Average U.S. pump prices likely will exceed $3 per gallon at times during the forthcoming spring and summer driving season.

EIA projects gasoline consumption will begin to show modest, but consistent, increases over the previous year, growing by 60,000 bbl/d in 2010 and 70,000 bbl/d in 2011.

In other words, there will be a gasoline price increase of 17 percent compared to summer 2009, even though consumption will only increase by six-tenths of a percent.  It means that American drivers will spend an additional $174 million per day on gasoline this summer compared to last year.  This could be as much as $16 billion more during the months of June, July, and August.  Total daily spending on gasoline this summer...